While the Fonds de développement économique LaPrade (LaPrade Economic Development Fund) was officially created in 1987, it was implemented gradually from funds remaining after the 1978 halt in construction of a heavy water plant in the LaPrade region of Quebec, located more specifically in the regional county municipality (MRC) of Bécancour.
With these funds, the federal government established a special program for the LaPrade region to contribute to economic development projects that create permanent jobs. The program's original aim, created to offset the loss of existing and potential jobs in the region, was to fund investment projects in the energy sector. However, it soon branched out into a variety of initiatives, not just in other economic sectors but in other geographical sectors: Berthier, Maskinongé and Lanaudière, Lotbinière, Champlain, Trois-Rivières, Saint-Maurice (Shawinigan), LaPrade and Portneuf, Richmond-Wolfe, etc.
This sub-series is chiefly concerned with local and regional socio-economic history. Its documents consist mainly of grant applications, most of them filed between 1980 and 1984. They are fairly comprehensive, covering a multitude of local projects ranging from church hall repairs to the start-up of small and medium enterprises. These records help measure the economic vitality of various municipalities and, more generally, of regions such as Portneuf and Mauricie.
They also illustrate the milestones leading to the official creation of the Fonds de développement économique LaPrade, an important tool for boosting the economic vitality of regions vulnerable to national and global economic conditions, especially in the industrial sector.
This sub-series contains correspondence, to which is attached various grant application forms. It also contains project lists and 12 blueprints.
